Eat + Drink

You think a trend has reached its peak—and then it just keeps going. Wine bars, fro-yo, pizza. Pizza, pizza, pizza. Pizza. Oh, and by the way, pizza.

Clearly A16, Pizzeria Delfina and Picco weren't pizza enough for us. Chefs with tattoos, fixed gear bikes and 00 flour aren't enough either. The ante has been upped. Now, it seems, you have to actually be Italian or come with papers.

Pretty soon, we suspect, news of KitchenetteSF will be appearing on every blog in town. After all, is there anything this town loves more than ad hoc pop-up restaurants with a DIY edge? Judging by the lines outside of Mission Street Food last Thursday night, we think not. KitchenetteSF is a Monday through Friday lunch-only grab-and-go operation that by the Living Room Events chefs, run out of the LRE's Dogpatch loading dock. They're making one or two options a day which are, mais oui, sustainable, seasonal and local.

Welcome to our partnership with Eater. For this weekly Friday column, Eater editor Paolo Lucchesi gives his opinionated report on all the restaurant news that's fit to print, including all kinds of upcoming projects, hot downtown debuts, and Alice Waters' breakfast-making tips (just place a cracked egg in a hot, wood-fired oven and voila!).

If anyone has the inside scoop when it comes to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, Lulu Meyer, associate director of market operations at CUESA. You'll see her at the market, rain or shine. Every week, she’ll be giving us her short list for the market—just in time for Saturday shopping. Go to cuesa.org for more information about farmers, seasonality and goings-on.

1. The Hamada family of Hamada Farms, based in the Kingsburg area, has farming for almost 90 years. During the summer, their stone fruits are some of the best, but for now, pick up branches of vibrant, springy peach and quince blossoms at their booth.

Great wine paired with outstanding cheese—you in? On March 24, Fifth Floor wine director and master sommelier Emily Wines will be leading a wine-and-cheese pairing class featuring six different wines together with six or more cheeses. The hour-long class, sponsored by the NLGJA (National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association), begins at 6 p.m.—tickets are $50 ($30 for NLGJA members). To buy a ticket, click here.

Being a consummate generalist, I’m in awe of specialists. You know—people who dive full bore into their subject or project and emerge with pure genius. Perhaps it’s a hopelessly wandering curiosity that plagues me, but I readily admit to not possessing this kind of attention span or drive. Whatever it is, I’m grateful to the specialists of our local food world for sharing the delicious outcome of their passions.

Twitter has reached new heights this morning—21st Amendment brewer Shaun O'Sullivan is live-tweeting (is that an oxy-moron?) the brewing process of his latest creation: a spring ale made with floral, spicy hops, a brew he called "light, refreshing and drinkable"—in other words, perfect for spring. After soliciting name suggestions from his twitter feed followers (go on, follow it now!) they finally settled on a name, Spring Tweet. Ah, shucks. All day today Shaun will be posting pictures and step-by-step updates; I suggested that for his next beer, he let his followers help make decisions, via tweets, at critical junctures. What type of malt to use? What type of hops?

It wasn't too many St. Patrick's Days ago that I would gleefully head out to an Irish bar by 6 PM, several pints of Guinness or Harp in my future, as well as few shots of Jameson and a lot of bouncing around to the Pogues.